Scott, of the original Pit Of Despair recounted to me a story years ago. He used to wander around the office, muttering under his breath, "fuckyouIquit, fuckyouIquit, ..." One of his cow-orkers approached him, asking "What are you doing?" "Practicing," he responded.
And, of course, as I related that very story to people at later jobs, I found them doing the same thing, when times got rough.
I sense a pattern in that. Something that occurred to me in the car to getting groceries tonight. It was the realization that although I had less stuff when I was in my early twenties, and I had trouble paying the bills month to month, and at its best I was sharing a basement 2BR apartment with a friend of mine that I could probably fit entirely into my present 1BR apartment, there was something fundamentally different between then and now:
I was happier then.
I left my crappy job at work. The biggest responsibility I might have had at work was "make sure the walk-in cooler got mopped before I went home." I had a schedule that was basically completely negotiable (need a day off, take it, get the hours some other day of the week instead). I had time to spend with my friends.
And most of all, I didn't feel bad ripping on my job. I mean, if you're working at a convenience store, even your boss is going to be cynical about the job.
Now, I'm paid reasonably well, and have little to complain about on that front. The job sucks (inasmuch as all jobs suck, really), but I feel bad about complaining about it, because it's a well paid career, puts things in the apartment, etc., etc.
I keep thinking to myself "If I sold off everything I owned, could I pay off enough of my debt that I could go back to that simpler life, get some crappy job with no responsibility whatsoever," and of course the answer is no, not easily.
I had a conversation with Brian a couple weeks ago, where I reflected that primitive man worked about two hours a week hunting and gathering, and the rest of the time he lounged around, played, danced, ate, drank, fucked, and basically enjoyed himself the entire rest of the time. Brian pointed out that he had a life expectancy somewhere around 30-40 years, and that certainly the extra time was worth the hassle.
But is it? If you assume that you're awake for 112 hours a week, and you spend 50-60 of that either working, doing chores, commuting, etc., that means you get (65 x 52 * (112-55) = 192,660) hours of enjoyment out of life. If you just slack off the entire time, spend a mere two hours a week hunting and gathering, you get (35 x 52 x (112-2) = 200,200) hours of enjoyment out of life.
In other words, if you go back to living like a caveman, you get a much shorter life, but you actually get the functional equivalent of more time spent doing what you want to do. There are 314 days more "fun" time, total, for the caveman.
Makes you wonder why we think the whole technology/job/career/money/possessions cycle is so freaking nifty. We've actually sucked nearly an entire year of "fun" life off our own lives.
Wowsers. I know exactly where you are coming from - the problem with all decent paying jobs is the crap-ass stress that comes attached to them. I have to admit that I'm not sure I'd enjoy the scraping by week-to-week (financially) of a no-responsibility type job, but it is SORELY tempting (some days more than others) - just to be able to come home at the end of the day and have not a thing on your mind.
You guys are REALLY making me look forward to life in the 'real world'... I'm not even in grad school yet, and you're making me miss it. :)
The benefit to the "week to week" lifestyle is that if you lose your no-talent-no-skills-required job, guess what, there's a bajillion more of them out there. Once you've adjusted downward in your financial expectations and needs, you can settle for any suck-ass hourly job and pretty much be in good shape.
And Jason - stop wasting your money. Just find some job that pays the bills and call it a day.
It's not really a waste of money, though, if I like what I'm doing.
The point is that no matter what you end up doing, it'll just become "a job" at some point. I love computers, but doing them as a career is making me hate them. I hear a lot of people with the same issue.
We just need to accept that "the job is gonna suck, so make sure you keep the things you enjoy separate, so that you can continue to enjoy them". :-)
I don't know about that. I know lots of people end up hating what they love because it became "a job", but I also come across lots of people who still love to do what they love to do even though it's become "a job". I guess it depends.
It can't be just the job; it's got to be the work environment as a whole. Of course, certain tasks associated with your job are going to become monotonous after a while (familiarity breeds contempt?), but does your work environment allow you to pursue other interests? Mix things up a bit? If not, jump ship.
Having held only two "professional" positions since undergrad (1995), I still think that most companies will give you that wiggle-room, if your pursuit will benefit the bottom line. Not to say they'll pay for OJT or anything like that, but they'll appreciate the initiative. Won't they?
Jobs are always a means to an end. Exxon pump-jockey paid for gas, car insurance and weed in high school. Jet/Conoco register-jockey and answering service/funeral home phone-bitch paid tuition and books. Last job paid the rent, paid for the car, the TV, the stereo, and trained me to land the current job. The current job pays for hockey season tickets, a nicer car, a nicer stereo, etc.
The job allows me to live the life I want. Keeping the two separate, IMHO, is imperative, but it also helps that I "believe" in the company (i.e., vision, structure, ethics, etc.), which I hear is rare.
I guess the point is that your "job" can be defined two ways: 1) the tasks you're required to perform to get a check, or 2) how you think you benefit the company. You define your "job".
If the company doesn't care about or consider the impact of your efforts, fuck 'em. Benefit another company that will, or might.
From American Beauty:
Lester:
When I was your age, I flipped burgers just to be able to buy an eight-track.
Ricky Fitts:
That sucks.
Lester:
No, actually it was great. All I did was party and get laid. I had my whole life ahead of me.
Chris, you're SO right, that's exactly the type of thing that I'm talking about. I even mentioned American Beauty when I was talking to other people about it. The whole "I want a job with absolutely no responsibility whatsoever" thing.
Of course, I don't have blackmail material that my boss was using the company credit card for hookers, so I can't exactly pull off Lester's nice coup. :-)
Derek -- spot on. IMO, the answer is to negotiate the job into a low-stress mode, and if that doesn't work -- move on to another one!
I'm not quite practicing what I preach here, but that's the *theory* at least. ;)
Getting in a position where you have to worry about work after-hours, your wrists hurt from too much typing, your eyes are googly after each day of work etc., is just not worth the pay, IMO. I'm not drinking that Kool-Aid anymore.
I spent a while last year, travelling, and it *is* great for perspective on this. Met lots of people who work a bit here for 6 months and arse around for the rest of the year, or take a multi-month break every year or two. Down-shifting works, AFAICS.
So that's what I reckon the answer is...
I wonder if you take that back a few more years, to high school, where you (well, I don't know about you, but for me anyway) didn't have to worry about more money than was enough to fill the car every couple of weeks, if you were lucky enough to have one, mom and dad housed and fed you, and the concept of "rent" and "bills" were abstract, something that mom and dad dealt with, and your only concern was homework or maybe getting in trouble with the teacher every once and a while.
I'm undecided if making more money, having a far nicer car, a place of my own, a loving GF, three cats and a whack of RRSPs in the bank makes me happier or not. Unfortunately, I can't go back in time (yet).
You make me want to watch American Beauty and Office Space again. In the same night. Back to back.
Really nice look on life... NOT!
Seriously, you can't walk around thinking that you could live a happier life all the time...
And how fun do you think this caveman has, when he sits on his stonefloor and freezing his ass off?
Sure, I would love to be able to stroll the wild nature like a primitive man, but I cant, and I accept that. I live here and now, and I try to make the best out of my life. Not sitting around thinking I would have more free-time as a stupid caveman.